The Swedish Element in Wisconsin: The Trade Lake Settlement

THE SWEDISH ELEMENT IN WISCONSIN:
THE TRADE L A K E SETTLEMENT
S. J. LINTON
Just as Minnesota's 10,000 lakes spilled over into northwestern
Wisconsin, so did the Swedish immigrants. Though the overall
population of Swedes in Wisconsin has never been large, the
numbers of Swedes in certain areas has been significant. For
example, nine of the ten Wisconsin counties with the largest
Swedish-born population in 1890 were in the northwestern part of
the state.1 Swedes accounted for substantial portions of the
total population in several of these counties. Consequently,
though there were only about 20,000 Swedes in Wisconsin (com­pared
to nearly 100,000 in Minnesota) in 1890, Burnett County
in Wisconsin had 1,541 Swedes.2 This accounted for 35 per cent
of its population. Burnett had the largest percentage of Swedes
of any county in the state and its third largest concentration of
Swedes.
Our concern here is with the Swedish settlement in Burnett
County. It includes several small villages, such as Falun, Alpha,
and Karlsborg, in a region of about 15 by 15 miles. While these
small villages—most with only a post office, general store, church,
or school—were a focal point for Swedish settlers, the first
settled, largest, and most influential Swedish community was
at Trade Lake.
Trade Lake is located in the southeast part of Burnett County.
It is approximately four and a half miles southeast of Grants-burg,
the county seat and principal business center in the county.
Burnett County itself is just across the St. Croix River from
Chisago and Pine counties in Minnesota. It is approximately
sixty miles northeast of Minneapolis.
Like many other states in the Old Northwest, Wisconsin was
interested in attracting immigrants. When it became a state
in 1848, it had a small population and large areas of unsettled
land. The state was concerned enough with settlement to found
a Commission of Emigration in 1852.3 The agency provided ad­vertisement
pamphlets which were distributed throughout the
254
United States and Europe, and printed in several languages, in­cluding
Swedish4 However, other countries drew much more
attention from the Commission than did Sweden.
Wisconsin sold itself to prospective immigrants as a provider
of good, cheap, land. In 1856 northwestern Wisconsin offered
"a very large [area . . . which] is yet unsettled and there is
in it nearly 1,000,000 acres still remaining in the lands of the
government, which will be open to private entry, as soon as
the lines of the Land Grant railroads are permanently located."5
The Civil War, however, delayed this.
Meanwhile Minnesota, apparently observing Wisconsin's early
success, began to compete for settlers and formed its own immi­gration
service. With more money than Wisconsin, it even
guided immigrants from New York to Minnesota. This, in addi­tion
to the efforts of Hans Mattson, a Swede and influential
member of the Minnesota Board of Immigration, resulted in many
Swedes traveling to Minnesota rather than to Wisconsin.6
Wisconsin nonetheless had land, and in order to support an
agricultural college, the state finally put several thousand acres
up for sale in northwestern Wisconsin in 18687 This land was
usually very cheap, selling for between $.50 and $2.00 per acre.8
The offer included Burnett County. In fact, as late as 1902, the
county was itself advertising cheap land for immigrants. A
pamphlet published by the Burnett County Board of Immigra­tion
in 1902 stated that "the purpose for which this book is pub­lished
is to attract the attention of farmers of moderate circum­stances
to the agricultural resources of Burnett County and the
opportunity to acquire good farms for a small price."9
Government, however, was not alone in its concern for at­tracting
immigrants. Railroads and private speculators were
also interested. Railroads nonetheless played a minor role in the
Trade Lake area, since it had no direct rail service until several
years after the community was settled.10 More important were
the land speculators. Unsettled regions, with their forests, po­tential
minerals, water power, and new settlers, provided irre­sistible
opportunities for capitalists.
The most influential private investments in northwestern
Wisconsin, which probably played some part in attracting
Swedes to the area, were made by Caleb Cushing. Gushing and
two associates formed a mining company in 1845 to secure min-
255
eral rights in the St. Croix region, which included a vast area
of northwestern Wisconsin. 1 1 So ambitious were their plans for
the region that in order to operate under a new territorial gov­ernment,
rather than under Wisconsin's established law, Cushing
and his friends persuaded the government to locate the Wiscon­sin
boundary line substantially further to the east than originally
planned.12 By the 1860s their plans had developed so far that
"the only element that seemed to be lacking in this elaborate
setting was occupants. . . , " 1 3
A Norwegian, James Reymert, a former vice-consul for Nor­way
and Sweden, was given the task of attracting immigrants.
He planned for a colony similar to Chisago County, Minnesota.14
Unfortunately perhaps, this plan was disrupted by the Civil War.
After the war, Reymert became attorney for the Great European
American Emigration Land Company under Cushing, its presi­dent.
The general manager was Henning Taube in Stockholm,
Sweden. Under Taube's direction, the company advertised—par­ticularly
in Sweden, heavily and somewhat recklessly—to at­tract
settlers. As a result, 125 Swedes arrived in St. Croix Falls
in 1869. They were dismayed to find that land deeds they had
bought from Taube in Sweden were invalid.
Taube's mismanagement, together with the fact that state land
was being offered for sale at about the same time, hampered
the success of Cushing's company. Cushing and his associates
were nonetheless important because of their efforts to attract
Swedish immigrants. This was especially significant since the
state had concentrated on recruiting Norwegians and Germans,
rather than Swedes.15
In 1854 a small stopping place for loggers was opened a few
miles west of Trade Lake.1 6 Canute Anderson, the proprietor,
was Norwegian, but his wife was Swedish.17 She was probably
the first Swedish settler in the area. In the early 1860s several
more Norwegians arrived and settled in the Grantsburg area,
a little to the northwest of Trade Lake, which was settled a
few years later.18 There is an unsubstantiated report that Lars
Brackley came to Trade Lake from Iowa in 1863.19 More gen­erally
acknowledged as the first Swedish settler is William For­sell,
who later served as Burnett County Clerk. Forsell reported­ly
came to Trade Lake in 1865 from Östersund in Jämtland20
or Hudiksvall in Hälsingland.21 He attracted other Swedes, who
256
were at the time in Pestigo, Wisconsin, to Trade Lake by writing
in the Chicago Swedish newspaper, Hemlandet.22
Seven families moved to Trade Lake from Pestigo, led by
Carl Anderson, born in Ljusnarsberg. Anderson and others from
the mining region of Nya Kopparberg in northwestern Västman­land
had come to Pestigo in 1865. After reading about the
beautiful "Nordic" countryside in Burnett County, he and his
followers moved there in September, 1888. This may be con­sidered
the founding of the Trade Lake community. When they
arrived there was only one white family in the area.23 The Swedes
immediately began to secure land and build huts for the winter.
Anderson later became known as "Kung Carl" for persuading
so many other Swedes to come to Trade Lake. He went to Swe­den
on at least two occasions and brought immigrants from
Västmanland and Dalarna to Trade Lake.24
Shortly after the Anderson party, another group of Swedes
arrived, as described by L. J. Ahlström.25 The Ahlström family
left Sweden on May 10, 1868, arriving in Chicago in June. They
then took the train across Illinois and the steamboat to St. Paul.
After spending some time in Minnesota, they travelled to Burnett
County. They were welcomed by Canute Anderson and stayed
in his home. Their arrival was apparently in the late fall of 1868.
Then, like the Carl Anderson party, they immediately began to
prepare for the coming winter.
The Swedes who settled the Trade Lake area came from sev­eral
places in Sweden, primarily from Värmland, Västmanland,
Dalarna, and Närke;26 some were also from Småland.27
After the first Swedish settlers arrived in Trade Lake, the
community quickly began to grow. As many as fifty families
arrived in one year.28 By 1870 there were about 350 people in
Trade Lake, most of whom had come directly from Sweden in
the previous two years.29 They accounted for half of Burnett
County's population. Trade Lake continued to grow from about
350 inhabitants in 1870 to about 1,175 in 1900.30
With such population growth, construction of community
buildings soon began. First among these were the churches. A
Swedish Baptist church, the first in the state, was begun in 1869.3 1
Swedish Lutheran, Methodist, and Congregationalist churches
were added later.32 Although the Trade Lake Swedes were eager
to become Americans, their services were held in Swedish until
257
after the turn of the century in some of the churches.33
Next came the schools. Trade Lake's first was built in 1870—
a mere two years after the first immigrants had arrived. Like
the population, the number of schools in the area also increased.
By the turn of the century there were four schools located in
Trade Lake.3 4 Another important addition to the community
was a post office opened in the home of Samuel Doner in 1870.85
Postage payable for a treasured letter from Sweden was often
between three and four dollars36—the price of more than an
acre of good land.
Businesses soon developed. For example, Matias Lars from
Dalsland began making wooden shoes in 1870. Many of the im­migrants
came from places in Sweden where wooden shoes were
not commonly worn, but Lars made good shoes at $.25 a pair
and was able to establish a successful business.37 Since the near­est
general store was many miles away in St. Croix Falls, one
was established on the farm of John Ring, the Swedish Baptist
minister, about 1870.38 Mills were important to the community,
because timber was plentiful and grain had to be ground. The
first lumber mill was built in 1870.39 Grist mills soon followed.
By 1883 Trade Lake had many businesses, including a grist mill,
a blacksmith shop, and a hotel.40 An important factor in the later
development of the region were the creameries. The first in
Burnett County was started in Trade Lake in 1896.411 This cream­ery,
like most in Wisconsin, was owned and operated coopera­tively.
There is some confusion in the literature as to whether a
Swedish-language newspaper ever existed in the area. On the
one hand, Erik Ehn4 2 could find no evidence of a Swedish-lan­guage
paper in the entire state, while O. A. Linder*3 reports
that several—including one in Grantsburg, Burnett County—
were in operation before 1910. It seems apparent that there were
indeed Swedish-language papers in Wisconsin, although it re­mains
questionable whether there was one in Burnett County.44
In 1875 Marion Wilcott founded the first local paper in Grants­burg.
4'5 Hubbard's directory46 shows that it was in English and
had a circulation of about 450 by the early 1880s. Most of its
readers were Scandinavian and at least one letter to the editor
was printed in Swedish.47 Unfortunately, a collection of the
early editions of this paper no longer exists.48
258
A description of the development of the area would not be
complete without mention of one of its most notable residents,
Gust Anderson. Gust's outstanding characteristic was his in­credible
size: he was seven feet tall and weighed 310 pounds. He
was born in Sweden and came to the United States toward the
end of the century. Initially he was a farmer and woodsman.
Apparently though, his size drew him into another occupation,
that of constable of Grantsburg.49
So it was that the community of Trade Lake developed. E. L .
Peet described Trade Lake eloquently in 1902:
It is the most densely populated part of the county outside
the village of Grantsburg. . . . the farms are all small, well
improved and few are for sale. The inhabitants are nearly
all Swedish but with the exception of a few of the very oldest
people are thoroughly Americanized and up to date. . . .
The town contains five stores, five churches, four school
houses, two grist mills, a creamery and a post office. These
are not all located at one place or they would form a strong
business center. . . . If this town were reached directly by
a railroad from the larger cities it would be well patronized
as a summer resort. . . .60
The township of Trade Lake today remains a quiet, rural area
with green rolling hills, valleys, trees, and water. It is scattered
with farms and a few businesses. Its peace and beauty have
attracted many tourists. Remnants from the old days have faded
into the surroundings of the present—some are scarcely noticed
landmarks, like the graveyards and churches. Descendants of
the Swedish-born immigrants are still prevalent in the area. The
lands the settlers cleared and reaped are occupied today by suc­cessful
dairy farmers. With the passage of time the features of
the community that marked it as Swedish have grown dim.
Slowly it has become a typical rural American community.
Looking back, one may ponder the success of the immigrants
to Trade Lake. Their goals of self-sufficient self-employment
were described in 1896: ". . . . an independent business, however
small, a farm or a shop of their own is their ambition, and no
labor is to severe to gain it."5 1 In that respect, the immigrants to
Trade Lake and their descendants have been notably successful.
259
NOTES
1O. N. Nelson, ed., H i s t o r y of t h e S c a n d i n a v i a n s and S u c c e s s f u l S c a n ­d
i n a v i a n s i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , 2 vols. (Minneapolis: O. N. Nelson Co.,
1893-97), II, 127-128.
2 Ibid., 127-128.
* T. C. Blegen, "The Competition of the Northern States for Immigrants,"
T h e W i s c o n s i n M a g a z i n e of H i s t o r y , 3 (1919), 4.
4 Ibid., 11.
8 D . T. Hall, "Hudson and Neighborhood," Wisconsin H i s t o r i c a l C o l l e c ­t
i o n s for t h e Y e a r of 1 8 5 6 , 3 (1904), 470.
6 Blegen, 24.
'Alice E. Smith, "Caleb Cushing's Investments in the St. Croix Valley,"
T h e W i s c o n s i n M a g a z i n e of H i s t o r y , 28 (1944), 17.
8 Blegen, 16.
" E d L . Peet (compiler), B u r n e t t C o u n t y , W i s c o n s i n (Grantsburg, Wiscon­sin:
The Burnett County Board of Immigration, 1902), 17.
"Maurice Crownhart, S t r o l l i n g T h r o u g h a C e n t u r y : T h e S t o r y of G r a n t s ­b
u r g , B u r n e t t C o u n t y , W i s c o n s i n , 1 8 6 5 - 1 9 6 5 , (Grantsburg, Wisconsin:
Crownhart Printing Co., 1965), 17.
"Smith, 8-9.
" I b i d . , 9.
"Ibid., 13.
"Ibid., 14.
" E r i k Ehn, "The Swedes in Wisconsin: Concerning Source Material on
the Study of Early Swedish Immigration to Wisconsin," T h e Swedish Pio­neer
Historical Q u a r t e r l y , 19 (1968), 122.
"Crownhart, 15.
" L o u i s J. Ahlström, F e m t i o f e m år i v e s t r a W i s c o n s i n , (Minneapolis:
Larson Printing Co., 1924), 19.
1 8 Crownhart, 15.
1 9 Burnett County Homemakers Club (compilers), P i o n e e r T a l e s of B u r ­n
e t t (Siren, Wisconsin: Burnett County Leader, undated), 40. It is not
clear from this report whether Brackley was Swedish.
M M. M. Quaife, Wisconsin: I t s H i s t o r y and P e o p l e , (Chicago: S. J . Clarke
Publishing Co., 1924), 119.
a E r i c k H. Johnson, "Så var det i början. Hågkomster från den svenska
nybyggaretiden i Wisconsin," Prärieblomman 1 9 1 2 , 93.
M Quaife, 119; Johnson, 93.
2 3 Peet, 136; Ahlström, 310.
" Johnson, 94; Peet, 136.
"Ahlström, passim.
2 8 Sten Carlsson, "From Mid-Sweden to the Midwest," S w e d i s h P i o n e er
H i s t o r i c a l Q u a r t e r l y , 25 (1974), 197.
" Crownhart, 14.
" I b i d . , 30.
"Ahlström, 351.
8 0 Peet, 55.
8 1 Nelson, 142.
8 2 Peet, 83-89.
88 I b i d . , 80.
8 4 Peet, 55.
8 5 Crownhart, 29.
8 8 Johnson, 98-99.
"Ahlström, 333-334.
' " I b i d . , 331-332.
8 9 Ibid., 333.
"Crownhart, 31.
"Peet, 90-91.
4 8 Ehn, 124.
260
"Oliver A. Lander, "Newspapers," in A . B, Benson and N. Hedin, eds.,
S w e d e s in A m e r i c a , 1 6 3 8 - 1 9 3 8 (New York: Haskell House Publishers Ltd.,
reprint 1969), 186.
4 4 See Linder, 186; Winfred Gregory, ed., A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r 1 8 2 1 - 1 9 3 6:
A U n i o n L i s t of F i l e s A v a i l a b l e in t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s and Canada (New
York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1937), 732-755; Harlan P. Hubbard, N e w s p a p er
and B a n k D i r e c t o r y of t h e W o r l d , I (New Haven: International Newspaper
Agency, 1882), 923.
4 5 Crownhart, 16; H i s t o r y of N o r t h e r n W i s c o n s i n , (Chicago: The Western
Historical Co., 1881), 171. Although Ahlström (355) maintains that Tal¬
boys founded the paper, Talboys bought the paper from Wilcott at a later
date.
4 6 Hubbard, 923.
4 ' Ahlstrom, 355.
4 SEhn, 125.
4 9Peet, 95.
6°Peet, 55.
6 1Kendric C. Babcock, "The Scandinavian Contingent," T h e A t l a n t i c
M o n t h l y , 77 (1896), 666.
261

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THE SWEDISH ELEMENT IN WISCONSIN:
THE TRADE L A K E SETTLEMENT
S. J. LINTON
Just as Minnesota's 10,000 lakes spilled over into northwestern
Wisconsin, so did the Swedish immigrants. Though the overall
population of Swedes in Wisconsin has never been large, the
numbers of Swedes in certain areas has been significant. For
example, nine of the ten Wisconsin counties with the largest
Swedish-born population in 1890 were in the northwestern part of
the state.1 Swedes accounted for substantial portions of the
total population in several of these counties. Consequently,
though there were only about 20,000 Swedes in Wisconsin (com­pared
to nearly 100,000 in Minnesota) in 1890, Burnett County
in Wisconsin had 1,541 Swedes.2 This accounted for 35 per cent
of its population. Burnett had the largest percentage of Swedes
of any county in the state and its third largest concentration of
Swedes.
Our concern here is with the Swedish settlement in Burnett
County. It includes several small villages, such as Falun, Alpha,
and Karlsborg, in a region of about 15 by 15 miles. While these
small villages—most with only a post office, general store, church,
or school—were a focal point for Swedish settlers, the first
settled, largest, and most influential Swedish community was
at Trade Lake.
Trade Lake is located in the southeast part of Burnett County.
It is approximately four and a half miles southeast of Grants-burg,
the county seat and principal business center in the county.
Burnett County itself is just across the St. Croix River from
Chisago and Pine counties in Minnesota. It is approximately
sixty miles northeast of Minneapolis.
Like many other states in the Old Northwest, Wisconsin was
interested in attracting immigrants. When it became a state
in 1848, it had a small population and large areas of unsettled
land. The state was concerned enough with settlement to found
a Commission of Emigration in 1852.3 The agency provided ad­vertisement
pamphlets which were distributed throughout the
254
United States and Europe, and printed in several languages, in­cluding
Swedish4 However, other countries drew much more
attention from the Commission than did Sweden.
Wisconsin sold itself to prospective immigrants as a provider
of good, cheap, land. In 1856 northwestern Wisconsin offered
"a very large [area . . . which] is yet unsettled and there is
in it nearly 1,000,000 acres still remaining in the lands of the
government, which will be open to private entry, as soon as
the lines of the Land Grant railroads are permanently located."5
The Civil War, however, delayed this.
Meanwhile Minnesota, apparently observing Wisconsin's early
success, began to compete for settlers and formed its own immi­gration
service. With more money than Wisconsin, it even
guided immigrants from New York to Minnesota. This, in addi­tion
to the efforts of Hans Mattson, a Swede and influential
member of the Minnesota Board of Immigration, resulted in many
Swedes traveling to Minnesota rather than to Wisconsin.6
Wisconsin nonetheless had land, and in order to support an
agricultural college, the state finally put several thousand acres
up for sale in northwestern Wisconsin in 18687 This land was
usually very cheap, selling for between $.50 and $2.00 per acre.8
The offer included Burnett County. In fact, as late as 1902, the
county was itself advertising cheap land for immigrants. A
pamphlet published by the Burnett County Board of Immigra­tion
in 1902 stated that "the purpose for which this book is pub­lished
is to attract the attention of farmers of moderate circum­stances
to the agricultural resources of Burnett County and the
opportunity to acquire good farms for a small price."9
Government, however, was not alone in its concern for at­tracting
immigrants. Railroads and private speculators were
also interested. Railroads nonetheless played a minor role in the
Trade Lake area, since it had no direct rail service until several
years after the community was settled.10 More important were
the land speculators. Unsettled regions, with their forests, po­tential
minerals, water power, and new settlers, provided irre­sistible
opportunities for capitalists.
The most influential private investments in northwestern
Wisconsin, which probably played some part in attracting
Swedes to the area, were made by Caleb Cushing. Gushing and
two associates formed a mining company in 1845 to secure min-
255
eral rights in the St. Croix region, which included a vast area
of northwestern Wisconsin. 1 1 So ambitious were their plans for
the region that in order to operate under a new territorial gov­ernment,
rather than under Wisconsin's established law, Cushing
and his friends persuaded the government to locate the Wiscon­sin
boundary line substantially further to the east than originally
planned.12 By the 1860s their plans had developed so far that
"the only element that seemed to be lacking in this elaborate
setting was occupants. . . , " 1 3
A Norwegian, James Reymert, a former vice-consul for Nor­way
and Sweden, was given the task of attracting immigrants.
He planned for a colony similar to Chisago County, Minnesota.14
Unfortunately perhaps, this plan was disrupted by the Civil War.
After the war, Reymert became attorney for the Great European
American Emigration Land Company under Cushing, its presi­dent.
The general manager was Henning Taube in Stockholm,
Sweden. Under Taube's direction, the company advertised—par­ticularly
in Sweden, heavily and somewhat recklessly—to at­tract
settlers. As a result, 125 Swedes arrived in St. Croix Falls
in 1869. They were dismayed to find that land deeds they had
bought from Taube in Sweden were invalid.
Taube's mismanagement, together with the fact that state land
was being offered for sale at about the same time, hampered
the success of Cushing's company. Cushing and his associates
were nonetheless important because of their efforts to attract
Swedish immigrants. This was especially significant since the
state had concentrated on recruiting Norwegians and Germans,
rather than Swedes.15
In 1854 a small stopping place for loggers was opened a few
miles west of Trade Lake.1 6 Canute Anderson, the proprietor,
was Norwegian, but his wife was Swedish.17 She was probably
the first Swedish settler in the area. In the early 1860s several
more Norwegians arrived and settled in the Grantsburg area,
a little to the northwest of Trade Lake, which was settled a
few years later.18 There is an unsubstantiated report that Lars
Brackley came to Trade Lake from Iowa in 1863.19 More gen­erally
acknowledged as the first Swedish settler is William For­sell,
who later served as Burnett County Clerk. Forsell reported­ly
came to Trade Lake in 1865 from Östersund in Jämtland20
or Hudiksvall in Hälsingland.21 He attracted other Swedes, who
256
were at the time in Pestigo, Wisconsin, to Trade Lake by writing
in the Chicago Swedish newspaper, Hemlandet.22
Seven families moved to Trade Lake from Pestigo, led by
Carl Anderson, born in Ljusnarsberg. Anderson and others from
the mining region of Nya Kopparberg in northwestern Västman­land
had come to Pestigo in 1865. After reading about the
beautiful "Nordic" countryside in Burnett County, he and his
followers moved there in September, 1888. This may be con­sidered
the founding of the Trade Lake community. When they
arrived there was only one white family in the area.23 The Swedes
immediately began to secure land and build huts for the winter.
Anderson later became known as "Kung Carl" for persuading
so many other Swedes to come to Trade Lake. He went to Swe­den
on at least two occasions and brought immigrants from
Västmanland and Dalarna to Trade Lake.24
Shortly after the Anderson party, another group of Swedes
arrived, as described by L. J. Ahlström.25 The Ahlström family
left Sweden on May 10, 1868, arriving in Chicago in June. They
then took the train across Illinois and the steamboat to St. Paul.
After spending some time in Minnesota, they travelled to Burnett
County. They were welcomed by Canute Anderson and stayed
in his home. Their arrival was apparently in the late fall of 1868.
Then, like the Carl Anderson party, they immediately began to
prepare for the coming winter.
The Swedes who settled the Trade Lake area came from sev­eral
places in Sweden, primarily from Värmland, Västmanland,
Dalarna, and Närke;26 some were also from Småland.27
After the first Swedish settlers arrived in Trade Lake, the
community quickly began to grow. As many as fifty families
arrived in one year.28 By 1870 there were about 350 people in
Trade Lake, most of whom had come directly from Sweden in
the previous two years.29 They accounted for half of Burnett
County's population. Trade Lake continued to grow from about
350 inhabitants in 1870 to about 1,175 in 1900.30
With such population growth, construction of community
buildings soon began. First among these were the churches. A
Swedish Baptist church, the first in the state, was begun in 1869.3 1
Swedish Lutheran, Methodist, and Congregationalist churches
were added later.32 Although the Trade Lake Swedes were eager
to become Americans, their services were held in Swedish until
257
after the turn of the century in some of the churches.33
Next came the schools. Trade Lake's first was built in 1870—
a mere two years after the first immigrants had arrived. Like
the population, the number of schools in the area also increased.
By the turn of the century there were four schools located in
Trade Lake.3 4 Another important addition to the community
was a post office opened in the home of Samuel Doner in 1870.85
Postage payable for a treasured letter from Sweden was often
between three and four dollars36—the price of more than an
acre of good land.
Businesses soon developed. For example, Matias Lars from
Dalsland began making wooden shoes in 1870. Many of the im­migrants
came from places in Sweden where wooden shoes were
not commonly worn, but Lars made good shoes at $.25 a pair
and was able to establish a successful business.37 Since the near­est
general store was many miles away in St. Croix Falls, one
was established on the farm of John Ring, the Swedish Baptist
minister, about 1870.38 Mills were important to the community,
because timber was plentiful and grain had to be ground. The
first lumber mill was built in 1870.39 Grist mills soon followed.
By 1883 Trade Lake had many businesses, including a grist mill,
a blacksmith shop, and a hotel.40 An important factor in the later
development of the region were the creameries. The first in
Burnett County was started in Trade Lake in 1896.411 This cream­ery,
like most in Wisconsin, was owned and operated coopera­tively.
There is some confusion in the literature as to whether a
Swedish-language newspaper ever existed in the area. On the
one hand, Erik Ehn4 2 could find no evidence of a Swedish-lan­guage
paper in the entire state, while O. A. Linder*3 reports
that several—including one in Grantsburg, Burnett County—
were in operation before 1910. It seems apparent that there were
indeed Swedish-language papers in Wisconsin, although it re­mains
questionable whether there was one in Burnett County.44
In 1875 Marion Wilcott founded the first local paper in Grants­burg.
4'5 Hubbard's directory46 shows that it was in English and
had a circulation of about 450 by the early 1880s. Most of its
readers were Scandinavian and at least one letter to the editor
was printed in Swedish.47 Unfortunately, a collection of the
early editions of this paper no longer exists.48
258
A description of the development of the area would not be
complete without mention of one of its most notable residents,
Gust Anderson. Gust's outstanding characteristic was his in­credible
size: he was seven feet tall and weighed 310 pounds. He
was born in Sweden and came to the United States toward the
end of the century. Initially he was a farmer and woodsman.
Apparently though, his size drew him into another occupation,
that of constable of Grantsburg.49
So it was that the community of Trade Lake developed. E. L .
Peet described Trade Lake eloquently in 1902:
It is the most densely populated part of the county outside
the village of Grantsburg. . . . the farms are all small, well
improved and few are for sale. The inhabitants are nearly
all Swedish but with the exception of a few of the very oldest
people are thoroughly Americanized and up to date. . . .
The town contains five stores, five churches, four school
houses, two grist mills, a creamery and a post office. These
are not all located at one place or they would form a strong
business center. . . . If this town were reached directly by
a railroad from the larger cities it would be well patronized
as a summer resort. . . .60
The township of Trade Lake today remains a quiet, rural area
with green rolling hills, valleys, trees, and water. It is scattered
with farms and a few businesses. Its peace and beauty have
attracted many tourists. Remnants from the old days have faded
into the surroundings of the present—some are scarcely noticed
landmarks, like the graveyards and churches. Descendants of
the Swedish-born immigrants are still prevalent in the area. The
lands the settlers cleared and reaped are occupied today by suc­cessful
dairy farmers. With the passage of time the features of
the community that marked it as Swedish have grown dim.
Slowly it has become a typical rural American community.
Looking back, one may ponder the success of the immigrants
to Trade Lake. Their goals of self-sufficient self-employment
were described in 1896: ". . . . an independent business, however
small, a farm or a shop of their own is their ambition, and no
labor is to severe to gain it."5 1 In that respect, the immigrants to
Trade Lake and their descendants have been notably successful.
259
NOTES
1O. N. Nelson, ed., H i s t o r y of t h e S c a n d i n a v i a n s and S u c c e s s f u l S c a n ­d
i n a v i a n s i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , 2 vols. (Minneapolis: O. N. Nelson Co.,
1893-97), II, 127-128.
2 Ibid., 127-128.
* T. C. Blegen, "The Competition of the Northern States for Immigrants,"
T h e W i s c o n s i n M a g a z i n e of H i s t o r y , 3 (1919), 4.
4 Ibid., 11.
8 D . T. Hall, "Hudson and Neighborhood," Wisconsin H i s t o r i c a l C o l l e c ­t
i o n s for t h e Y e a r of 1 8 5 6 , 3 (1904), 470.
6 Blegen, 24.
'Alice E. Smith, "Caleb Cushing's Investments in the St. Croix Valley,"
T h e W i s c o n s i n M a g a z i n e of H i s t o r y , 28 (1944), 17.
8 Blegen, 16.
" E d L . Peet (compiler), B u r n e t t C o u n t y , W i s c o n s i n (Grantsburg, Wiscon­sin:
The Burnett County Board of Immigration, 1902), 17.
"Maurice Crownhart, S t r o l l i n g T h r o u g h a C e n t u r y : T h e S t o r y of G r a n t s ­b
u r g , B u r n e t t C o u n t y , W i s c o n s i n , 1 8 6 5 - 1 9 6 5 , (Grantsburg, Wisconsin:
Crownhart Printing Co., 1965), 17.
"Smith, 8-9.
" I b i d . , 9.
"Ibid., 13.
"Ibid., 14.
" E r i k Ehn, "The Swedes in Wisconsin: Concerning Source Material on
the Study of Early Swedish Immigration to Wisconsin," T h e Swedish Pio­neer
Historical Q u a r t e r l y , 19 (1968), 122.
"Crownhart, 15.
" L o u i s J. Ahlström, F e m t i o f e m år i v e s t r a W i s c o n s i n , (Minneapolis:
Larson Printing Co., 1924), 19.
1 8 Crownhart, 15.
1 9 Burnett County Homemakers Club (compilers), P i o n e e r T a l e s of B u r ­n
e t t (Siren, Wisconsin: Burnett County Leader, undated), 40. It is not
clear from this report whether Brackley was Swedish.
M M. M. Quaife, Wisconsin: I t s H i s t o r y and P e o p l e , (Chicago: S. J . Clarke
Publishing Co., 1924), 119.
a E r i c k H. Johnson, "Så var det i början. Hågkomster från den svenska
nybyggaretiden i Wisconsin," Prärieblomman 1 9 1 2 , 93.
M Quaife, 119; Johnson, 93.
2 3 Peet, 136; Ahlström, 310.
" Johnson, 94; Peet, 136.
"Ahlström, passim.
2 8 Sten Carlsson, "From Mid-Sweden to the Midwest," S w e d i s h P i o n e er
H i s t o r i c a l Q u a r t e r l y , 25 (1974), 197.
" Crownhart, 14.
" I b i d . , 30.
"Ahlström, 351.
8 0 Peet, 55.
8 1 Nelson, 142.
8 2 Peet, 83-89.
88 I b i d . , 80.
8 4 Peet, 55.
8 5 Crownhart, 29.
8 8 Johnson, 98-99.
"Ahlström, 333-334.
' " I b i d . , 331-332.
8 9 Ibid., 333.
"Crownhart, 31.
"Peet, 90-91.
4 8 Ehn, 124.
260
"Oliver A. Lander, "Newspapers," in A . B, Benson and N. Hedin, eds.,
S w e d e s in A m e r i c a , 1 6 3 8 - 1 9 3 8 (New York: Haskell House Publishers Ltd.,
reprint 1969), 186.
4 4 See Linder, 186; Winfred Gregory, ed., A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r 1 8 2 1 - 1 9 3 6:
A U n i o n L i s t of F i l e s A v a i l a b l e in t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s and Canada (New
York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1937), 732-755; Harlan P. Hubbard, N e w s p a p er
and B a n k D i r e c t o r y of t h e W o r l d , I (New Haven: International Newspaper
Agency, 1882), 923.
4 5 Crownhart, 16; H i s t o r y of N o r t h e r n W i s c o n s i n , (Chicago: The Western
Historical Co., 1881), 171. Although Ahlström (355) maintains that Tal¬
boys founded the paper, Talboys bought the paper from Wilcott at a later
date.
4 6 Hubbard, 923.
4 ' Ahlstrom, 355.
4 SEhn, 125.
4 9Peet, 95.
6°Peet, 55.
6 1Kendric C. Babcock, "The Scandinavian Contingent," T h e A t l a n t i c
M o n t h l y , 77 (1896), 666.
261